Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala’s General Education Director has issued an order to provide special facilities for the 13,858 differently abled candidates who will be taking the Secondary School Leaving Certificate (SSLC – Class 10) examinations starting on March 9.
While 14,298 candidates had applied for special facilities, some were omitted after examining the certificate from the Medical Board and other documents.
Differently-abled students eligible for the facilities will be provided a scribe. They will also get guidance from interpreters to explain the questions during the exams. Moreover, these students will be allotted an additional 20 minutes for every hour of the exam. Another facility is a room on ground floor near the main gate of the school to write the exam.
The government will appoint an interpreter for every eight students who have learning disabilities. One interpreter will also be available for every four candidates who have other disabilities. The interpreters will be special educators under the Samagra Shiksha Kerala.
Meanwhile, Class 9 students will be selected as scribes for differently abled candidates taking the SSLC and higher secondary (Class 11 and 12) exams. These Class 9 students are paid Rs 100 for each paper. Applications in this regard have to be submitted by the school headmaster to the Deputy Director of Education.
The Education Department said that during valuation, up to 25 per cent grace marks will be awarded to eligible differently abled candidates in order to enable them pass the exam.
At the same time, the Director’s also said that complaints have been received over submission for fake certificates to obtain benefits meant for differently abled candidates. The facilities for such candidates will be withdrawn if such fraud is detected, the order added.
Model exams begin
The SSLC and higher secondary model exams have started across the state with common question papers. There are two exams on most days – in the morning and afternoon.
Even though rules state that more than three students should not be seated on a bench, it is not being followed in many schools due to space shortage. Consequently, the limit of 30 students in one room also cannot be implemented.
Another complaint regarding the model exam for Plus One (Class 11) is that the tests are taking place even before classes have been completed in several schools.